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IN THIS EDITION:
In the last days before Field Day, there was a flurry of radio and newspaper interviews done over the phone for ARRL nationally. Often these were reinforcement to information begun by local clubs who has passed on HQ contacts “for more information.” In every case, the Field Day locator option was shared with the reporters and they were very happy to learn of it and excited to see the numbers of locations around them. It gave reporters both an easy place to go and also a larger perspective that this was NOT just a small, localized event. Plans are to expand it for next year.
On Monday, after deleting the duplications of stories, there are well over 30 pages of just the links to hundreds of Media Hits and more are still coming in. The wire release alone received 210 hits (6 pages) and various paragraphs taken from the release were recognized in many more places. We noted there were a lot more TV hits than in the past and many had more than one story up. It was a great FD for PIOs and y’all did well.
One of the sidelights was a trial by Ted Randall using 7415 Kilohertz and WBCQ to broadcast FD (phone call-in) events live. Ted says it worked out well and will be repeated. One group of soldiers working FD from Iraq called in and was overheard by American manufacturers of ham equipment resulting in their being given better antenna(s) and mikes for their Iraq station.
One of the most interesting quotes spotted: "It's basically the ARRL saying take all your toys someplace and let's see what you can do.”
Field Day may be done for the year, but the job of the PIO is not over. Take a look at your group’s calendar and match an upcoming event to one of the reporters who covered your FD activities. Invite them to come to the event! If you have done your work well, you already have their interest and contact information.
If you got one of the many state or local proclamations for Field Day, be absolutely sure that your Section Manager and Director know about it! These become important in legislative and zoning issues. Quotes from them can be used in news releases.
Hi Allen -
You might want to remind everyone again to be sure and make good use of the tools they have found in SAK and Talk on Disk. Lots of helpful things that if used, can be a huge help to PIO's. Guess it's like the IRS laws: If you don't use them and take deductions you are entitled to, what good are they?
73
Don Carlson - KQ6FM
We’re not even DYING!!!
Rich Moseson, W2VU, spotted a disturbing (and continuing,) self-inflicted falsehood.
He wrote, “…we've got to get people to stop talking about ham radio being "retro" and "saving the hobby from extinction"!!! Our licensing numbers are near all-time highs and we're being perceived by more and more people in more and more places as being important. Plus things like software defined radios, digital voice, our own fleet of satellites, meteor-scatter and moonbounce are hardly "retro." We are our own worst enemies and risk creating a self-fulfilling prophecy if we don't get our own people out of the "ham radio is dying" mode, especially while trying to promote it! “
( http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com/Forwhatitsworth11107.html)
Rich has hit on a point we’ve made before, but it is past time to expose this falsehood for what it really is – false. But many times it is a ham who is saying this! Perhaps the only way is for PIOs to start getting confrontive whenever they see it. Here’s the facts…
There are about 654,000 licensees in the USA and about 2.5 million world-wide.
(www.ah0a.org is a great resource for stats and data)
There are more modes of operation than ever before.
We have more frequencies.
We are more active and included in emergency communications than ever before.
Now… does that sound like dying to you?
(And this is the bottom of the solar cycle!)
I do not like confrontation, but it may be needed. My own plan is to just say to the eulogizing ham, “If you or your group is ‘dying’ or ‘old fashioned,’ please do not include ME in your description. I am neither of these things.”
The new technology campaign was unveiled at Dayton on May 16 and, after the initial flurry of activity, we were curious to see how the associated website would fare. Happily the stats for June show a regular flow of people to the site where they learn about the modern aspects of Amateur Radio.
(Now, who downloaded almost the whole site on June 23rd? J )
Two Ideas to Play With This Summer
The Yang:
“What is ham radio?”
Too many times we are not ready to answer this most basic question by the media! In the past month I have seen four times where that was the opening question posed to PIOs and they muffed it. They spun off into technical areas alien to the audience.
This is NOT to pick on those hams; I did it too in the beginning. What you as a PIO absolutely MUST have is a ready, short and memorized answer to the very basic question, “What is ham radio?”
“Ham radio is a “hobby” sending wireless messages – that’s the fun part that gets most people interested and keeps them on the air. But it's also a “service” that has saved lives again and again when regular communication systems failed.”
You can make up your own short answer, but have one ready to go at all times. Once you have answered the initial question, then you can start adding and building on it. But without this foundation, all else seems technobabble and you’re starting off on the wrong foot in the interview.
The Yin:
Remember the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
Amateur Radio is a dynamic field of endeavor and technology. It is ever-changing.
You can define what Amateur Radio IS….
But then you cannot tell what it is doing NOW because it is constantly expanding.
Or you can tell what it is doing now….
But that’s not ALL that it is!
So you really cannot define Amateur Radio accurately.
Point to the future, not to the past, and leave room for growth.
“Amateur Radio: Your Resource in Disaster and Emergency Communication” was selected as the theme for the next World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2009.
The success and uses of the Field Day locator on the ARRL web page will surely have it return again next year. But this time we will need to be sure that clubs put in a street address or way for the public to find them. There might be an option for turn-by-turn directions.
Ted Randall’s shortwave broadcast of call-ins from Field Day sites was also a success and plans are for it to also be repeated and probably expanded. See www.tedrandall.com for info.
From Harold Kramer, WJ1B
Clothing:
Makeup - You will probably not be using a professional makeup person, but these should help:
Audio:
Posture
Other:
“May I help you?”
Recently I went shopping for a new Weber grill. It’s my wife’s birthday and the old one she loved to use had finally died after 10 years of hard service. It was time for a new and much larger one. So off I went to one of the two “big box” stores in the area.
I found the grill on the floor… but it took over 15 minutes to find a clerk. Even then he was not sure if they had any in stock other than the display model. He went wandering off “to look” for me. He never returned.
So off I went next to the other large store in the area. They also had one displayed on the floor and very soon I heard a friendly voice say, “May I help you?” In short order a new grill was in my truck and I was happily heading home.
Lessons learned?
a) Welcome people and offer to help them. This applies to strangers at your meetings or any public displays. If you don’t they will go away.
b) Be ready to respond. The first store did not even know what they had. We need to know what ham radio is – and be ready to talk about it.
c) The best opening is to offer to help and then listen to what is desired. What is it that the “customer” wants – not what we want to push on them. We need to quickly and accurately answer the questions they ask, not just launch in speeches.
So, those are three things you can apply to your work as a PIO. But what’s good for the goose is good for the gander they say, and I am no exception. Since you are reading down this far in CONTACT!, let me ask, “May I help you?”
We are in the very early stages of redesigning the entire ARRL website, and that includes the PR sections. I have some plans in my head for what I would like to see, but if you have thoughts (just on the www.arrl.org/pio page parts) send me a 1:1 email at apitts@arrl.org. How may I help you better?
- W1AGP said that